BF3Blog has a report by way of Norwegian news outlet NRK on what would appear to be attempts to manipulate review scores for Battlefield 3 by determining who receives review copies of the upcoming shooter sequel based on their preconceptions about the game, its beta test, and the competing Call of Duty franchise. They reproduce a questionnaire asking questions about potential reviewers including their review scores of previous Battlefield games, whether they are a Call of Duty fan, and even their present view of the game. They also note that: "A number of Norwegian gaming outlets, including popular ones like Gamer.no and GameReactor*, have been refused review copies of Battlefield 3 due to their review scores of past Battlefield games." They also quote a portion of an apology from EA Norway marketing manager Oliver Sveen saying: "this should not have been sent out. We have made ​​a mistake and we apologize. This is not something that neither should have happened earlier or what we intend to continue."

*Update: We received a note from one of the publications mentioned in this story, as Gamereactor writes to explain: "We would like to have our name removed from the article, we have received a preview code and have not had any problems with EA. We have had nothing to do with the 'shenanigans'. it seems to be a matter between EA Norway and a major newspaper, why dedicated gaming media are mentioned also must be a misunderstanding." The contact was from their Danish arm, but they operate as one entity, and say none of their Norwegian colleagues can understand why they were mentioned in this article.

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